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Sting by security services foils renewed Real IRA campaign

AN elaborate sting operation by MI5 and the police appears to have thwarted a plan by republican dissidents to launch a terrorist campaign in Britain and Northern Ireland to derail the peace process.

MI5 officers posed as French arms dealers to uncover what appears to have been a plot by the Real IRA, obtain its shopping list of weapons and also to drain it of funds. The operation took months and involved co-operation with the authorities in France, where the bogus arms deal was to take place.

Police have been appalled at the extent of the campaign the dissidents appear to have been planning, which could have rivalled the Provisional IRA’s terrorism in intensity.

Officers waited until money had been handed over and the alleged arms buyers had returned to Ireland before pouncing. They seized a six-figure sum in cash.

Four suspected republican dissidents have been arrested and charged. A